New board

The Board Election results are in, and the new DION board will consist of the following members:

President:

Idd Andrea Christensen, PhD Candidate, NV-IBT

Board Members:

Aida Akbarzadeh, PhD candidate, IE-IIK

Anne Kristin Kvitle, PhD candidate, IE-IDI

Elodie Besnier, PhD candidate, SU-ISS

Faiga M. Alawad, PhD candidate, IE-IIK

Irina Mihaela Ciortan, PhD candidate, IE-IDI

Lisa Tietze, PhD candidate, NV-IBT

Masab Khalid Annaqeeb, PhD candidate, IV-EPT

We wish you the best of luck for the coming year!

Join DION Board

Are you interested in a leadership position representing around 3000 of your colleagues? Do you want to influence the working situation of the academic temporary staff and get insights into how the university works?

Then the DION board could be just the thing for you!

DION is the only organization at NTNU which represents PhDs, post-docs and temporary academic staff from across the university. We are a contact point for PhDs, Post-Docs and other temporary scientific staff, sit in important committees and hold social events. And now is your chance to become part of this!

How can you become part of the DION board?

A new board will be elected at the online annual general meeting (AGM) on the 28th of April 2020. We encourage all PhD candidates, post-docs and temporary scientific employees from across NTNU to consider joining the board! If you are interested in running for the board, email us at post@dion.ntnu.no or introduce yourself at the meeting. A board position on DION can be credited

as up to one month of duty work, or one month extension of the PhD project period; whilst the president receives two months (Forskrift om stipendiater ved NTNU, §2). More details about the board election will be published in the discussion board.

The DION Board consists of 5 to 8 members, including DION president, who serve for 12 months (until spring 2021). We hold monthly board meetings and discuss wide-ranging questions we receive from PhD students, post-docs, institutes, and the NTNU Board. This is an opportunity to influence the work situation of academic temporary staff and get insights into how the university works. We also serve as an important social arena, and hold events targeted at different groups throughout the year. All PhD students, post-docs, and temporary scientific employees are eligible to run for a DION board position! What is needed from the candidates is:

  • All candidates must be employed at NTNU as a temporary scientific employee (such as PhD student and Post-doc) and have a contract for at least until spring 2021;
  • For the president position, Norwegian proficiency is required.

 

Send your short application including name, affiliation, short bio and motivation (1 page max) to post@dion.ntnu.no if you’d like to join next year’s DION Board. This information will be published on our website. Due to the current situation we strongly encourage you to do this well ahead in time.

This year the AGM will take place online. Candidates will have the opportunity to present themselves. To make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible and that no one struggles with technical issues, we strongly encourage you to you to send us a short video (1-2 min max) by Friday 24th April 2020. In this video you can state why you would like to become a board member, what your plans for the future of DION would be, a fun fact about yourself, etc. We will show all of the videos of the candidates at the AGM.

What do DION members worry about in times of Covid 19 and Home Office

Further to the confinement and restriction measures implemented in Norway and at NTNU due to the coronavirus, DION has organized a consultation with its members to identify their potential concerns, issues but also good initiatives under the current situation.

We created started a group on Microsoft Teams, where people can send in their questions and on March 25th, 2020, we organised an e-lunch discussion to collect further feedback and examples. DION summarised the findings of this e-consultation in a short brief, which was shared with NTNU’s prorector for research, NTNU board member for temporary scientific staff and union representatives. These actors have welcomed this input as they continue their discussions on how to address delays in research and the principles for possible contract extension.

DION will continue to monitor the situation of NTNU Phds, post-doc and temporary scientific staff closely. Therefore, the Microsoft team created for this consultation will remain open to keep collecting information and answer your questions when we can.

Further resources for NTNU Phds, post-doc and temporary scientific staff can also be found on our webposts on Working at NTNU in times of coronavirus and Surviving confinement, as well as on our Facebook page and forum. DION president also gave an interview to UniversitetAvisa [in Norwegian], published on April 1st, 2020 alongside a statement from NTNU Prorector for Research. Finally, announcements and guidelines from NTNU regarding the current situation are regularly posted on Innsida.

Working at NTNU in times of coronavirus

Discussions between NTNU and other Norwegian universities are on-going to come up with a common policies on how to address research delays and extensions of temporary contract. Several unions have been advocating a universal extension policy financially supported by the Norwegian state. If this position is unsuccessful, universities would most likely adopt a case-by-case approach to extension.

DION strongly advise PhDs, postdocs and temporary staff to start preparing for such an eventuality and start logging their work, their activity/inactivity, delays and difficulties in their research faced due to the situation, including issues related to unsuitable working conditions, anxiety, etc. Such a log will be helpful to argue for an extension later on. Unions also advise to continue recording absences due to sickness, child care and other leaves on Paga even during confinement as regular extension rules related to these still apply (new guidelines have been created for recording corona-related absences).

There is no information so far about the criteria that will apply, the process and deadlines to apply for extensions. For temporary staff with urgent matters (e.g. end of contract, residence permit applications) who cannot wait until the end of the confinement period, NTNU has recommended that they get in touch with their supervisors or the PhD contact at their faculties.

 

In the meantime, here are key updates and guidelines from NTNU:

Follow NTNU Innsida channel on coronavirus for updates. If you have questions about how specific guidelines apply to you, please contact your supervisor, your superior or the PhD contact at their faculties.

For internationals who have questions about their immigration status and procedures, NIRS is putting together a list of useful links for you to check:

Finally remember that you can still contact Occupational Health Services at NTNU for mental health support. They have also published advice on how to set up a home office.

 

This post will be updates regularly as more information becomes available.

DION is also collecting information about how this situation will impact PhDs, post-docs and temporary scientific staff’s contracts.  If you have any work-related inquiries your department cannot answer, please contact us at post@dion.ntnu.no.